Category: General

Here it is..two years since I went “public” with my blog. There were some periods of time when I didn’t post at all…some periods of time when I posted every day. The main thing is that I never completely stopped posting…so here I still am two years later.

For those of you who have visited my blog…thank you! Over the last few years, I have met and become acquainted with so many others who share my interest in genealogy. I have also met a number of cousins through this blog and my website. For that, I am extremely grateful!

Here it is…one year since I went “public” with my blog. There were some periods of time when I didn’t post at all…some periods of time when I posted every day. The main thing is that I never completely stopped posting…so here I still am one year later. Feels really good!

For those of you who have visited my blog…thank you! Over the last year, I have met and become acquainted with so many others who share my interest in genealogy. I have also had many wonderful comments that have thrilled me to no end! My first year blogging has been glorious!

Been a while since I posted to my blog. I have been so engrossed in both researching and indexing the 1940 census that became available on April 2nd. In researching I have found so much, but have plenty more to find! Indexing has been fun and challenging. Some of the handwriting in those days was atrocious! But Familysearch.org has put a lot of thought into their indexing software. Really makes it easy to use.

So far, I have found both my parents, 2 set of grandparents (out of 3), along with various cousins, brothers, and step brothers of my parents. I have also located my mother-in-law in Philadelphia. I got lucky with my mother-in-law. My husband had the address of the house she grew up in. The 1940 U.S. census at the National Archives is set up to where you can search down to the street level and crossroads. Lo and behold there she was as a teenager in that house!

Earl E. Pyatt - 1940s16-17 years old

I found my Dad yesterday. That was quite a thrill! I thought he was probably already in the Army and stationed at Ft. Hood in Texas. I remember that he told me that shortly before he enlisted his mom, step dad, and step brothers had moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I had resigned myself to the possibility that it wouldn’t be easy to find him on the 1940 census. I would have to wait for the indexing to be done. So at this point I decided to just look for my grandmother and family. Santa Fe had 23 enumerated districts in 1940. Each one with 2-36 census pages. I thought to myself, well this isn’t as bad as some of the larger cities. I took a deep breath and began my search. On the first page of 11th district I spotted my dad’s stepbrother, Nolan! Ah ha! Here they are! Found you! As I glanced up the page looking for my grandmother, there was my Dad! He was 17 years old and had graduated high school! He had worked during the week of March 24-30th for 31 hours and earned $27.00 in 1939. The census taker does not list his occupation or industry. Even better, he was one of the 2 people on each page that was picked for supplemental questions. Unfortunately, those questions weren’t that helpful as the census taker must have misunderstood what information he was to collect. Under Birthplace of Father and Birthplace of Mother, the census taker had actually written the names of my Dad’s parents! He did that on all of his pages! The supplemental questions did show that my Dad did not have a social security number at that point and that English was the language spoken in his childhood.

I feel fortunate to have been able to locate some of my immediate family. Primarily because they all came from small towns in the West. But some folks are still looking for their relatives in major cities where currently there are tons of census records to glean through!

All 50 states are available for indexing. A lot has been done so far, but there is still time to help with completing this project! Please head to this link 1940 U.S. Census Community Project and sign up to start indexing. The more that index, the sooner all the states will be available for name searches! Be a part of history!

Disclosure: As part of the1940census.com ambassador program this blog post enters me into a drawing for $100 VISA gift card.

“Browse images for: Delaware“Unlike previous census years, images of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census will be made available as free digital images.”THE 1940 CENSUS IMAGES ARE NOW RELEASED! On April 2, 2012, NARAreleased the digital images of the 1940 Unites States Federal Census after a 72 year embargo. These census images will be uploaded and made available on Archives.com, FindMyPast.com, and FamilySearch.org.”

“Progress of the 1940 Census on Ancestry.comAncestry.com took delivery of the 1940 census from the National Archives at 12:01 a.m. on April 2, 2012. Currently we are in the process of loading all 3.8 million census images online. Once an image is online, you can browse it to see the information included on that page. When all images are uploaded, you’ll be able to browse by enumeration district (see below for more information) to find your family’s neighborhood.Below is the current image status by state:

April 2nd is the day many genealogists have been waiting for…the release of the 1940 US Census.

Archives.com has created a quick infographic to help you find your family right away, once the census is released. Check it out below!

Don’t forget – Familysearch.org is still looking for indexers to assist the indexing the 1940 US Census. Once that is completed it will be much easier for all of us to find members of our families. To become a member of the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project and help index click here.

“What’s buzzin‘, cousin?” was a popular saying in the 1940′s meaning “what’s up?” or “what’s happening”. Well what’s buzzin`, cousin is that April 2, 2012 is the release date for the 1940 US Census records. What a wealth of information will be at our fingertips. The 1940 US Census contains 132.2 million people living in 37.2 million housing units! Some of the new information you will have access to are residence five years ago, income, detailed information on unemployment, highest level of school, etc. And what an opportunity for all of us to be a part of this historic release. You see, once released, the census is not index…that’s where you come in. FamilySearch is, in part, sponsoring a volunteer effort to index the 1940 US census once the records are released. Become a part of history through a group called the 1940 US Census Community Project. This is where each and every one of you can volunteer to assist in the critical indexing of the census! You don’t have to be an expert and you can index as little or as much as you want. I’ve joined up to be both an Ambassador and to help index. So come join the fun and let’s get this census indexed as quickly as possible so that they will be available to all and easy to search!

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Kathleen Pyatt O’Neill

I have been involved in not only my family history, but also in helping others connect with their family history. What I like most about genealogy is that it is a bunch of little pieces that when put together creates a fuller picture of who one is and where they came from…I so enjoy solving puzzles!